Ryan Beatty is headed out on his first tour ever and he’s giving JJJ all the deets in this new interview!

The 17-year-old singer is gearing up to open for his good friend Cody Simpson on the U.S. leg of his Paradise tour.

Meanwhile, Ryan is also working on his debut album and recently partnered with DoSomething.org and VH1 Save the Music Foundation to help save music education in schools with the “Band Together” campaign.

Click inside to read our new interview with Ryan Beatty…

JustJaredJr.com – Ryan Beatty

JustJaredJr.com: First of all, congrats on the tour!

Ryan Beatty: Thank you so much. I’m super excited. It’s my first tour ever and I’m excited to, you know, be on a bus instead of flying to every city. And going to cities I’ve never been to, that’s going to be great.

JJJ: Are you all packed and ready to go?

RB: Not as much as I should be (laughs), but I leave in a week and a half. There’s still some things I need to get. I have an idea. I’m not going to bring too much. The good thing is, I come to L.A. on June 13. So 15 days into the tour, I come back home so if I need anything, I can bring it with me then. That’s one good thing about it. But I know I’ll forget some stuff though (laughs). We’ll see what happens.

JJJ: Do your parents go with you? How does that work?

RB: For the first three weeks of the tour, I’ll be on my own. Once I come to L.A., my mom is going to come with. And then through the tour, I’ll have friends and family come through at certain times. I want to give a chance for everyone to experience it with me, my family and stuff. It’s really cool and not everyone gets to go on a bus and tour the United States and part of Canada. So I’m excited.

JJJ: We know your friends with Cody. How did the whole idea of you going on tour with him come about?

RB: I actually met Cody in September 2011 at one of his shows at the House of Blues in Anaheim. His sister was like, “You should come,” so that was actually the first time I met Alli too. So I might her there and we hung out, and watched the show. It was my first time seeing him live and he was incredible. Afterward, I met him and then from there, we all started hanging out a couple months later, and hung out more often. So it wasn’t a forced [thing] where, “Oh, we gotta be friends,” you know? We all share a lot of similar interests. It was really cool because they’re into a lot of the things I’m into, and vice versa. It’s like going on tour with a friend, so it’s going to be awesome.

JJJ: We’re guessing there will be a lot of skateboarding?

RB: Probably. I was like, “Are you bringing your skateboard?” And he was like, “Of course.”

JJJ: That’s gotta be pretty flattering that he picked you to join him on tour.

RB: It’s a great feeling, for sure. And like I said, it’s my first tour so it’s going to be a really cool first tour experience.

JJJ: We know you’re working on your debut album. Will you be putting a hold on that until the tour is over?

RB: Since I’m going on tour, it’s kind of like a pause real quick. But the good news is, I’m in this groove right now where it’s moving at a quicker pace than usual. So even though these next two and a half months, it’s kind of like a pause, when August comes around, it will be basically every day in the studio, and that’s it. So hopefully it will be completely done by August. And we’ll see where it goes from there because I want to release it at the right time. It’s going great right now. It’s going incredible, actually. I’m just really eager to release it, but still taking my time with it. I’m not trying to rush anything too quick.

The first album might seem like it’s taking a long time, but the good thing is that the second album is definitely going to be a lot quicker than the first one because with the first one, you’re still learning things and you’re taking things step by step. You learn a lot, you learn what to improve on, what not to change, and what to change after you release your first album. So I don’t want people to think that just because it’s taking a lot longer with this one, that that’s how it’s always going to be, you know?

JJJ: Definitely. Now will you be playing all new songs or some covers?

RB: I want to do one old classic cover just because I love old classic music, and I want to bring some of that back. But I’m also doing a lot of new songs as well as a couple older ones. Definitely a mix of the new ones and the old ones, people’s favorites and stuff. But yeah, I’m definitely going to throw in a cover or two.

JJJ: Will we see you and Cody on stage together at some point?

RB: I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about that, but I’m sure if it does happen, it would be something kind of on the spot. It wouldn’t be something rehearsed or anything. But we’ll see, it’s a long tour so. And it’s always good to have fun on stage, but I haven’t really talked to him about that.

JJJ: Is there a city or place you’re most looking forward to playing?

RB: Well, we’re going to a lot of parts of Canada that I’ve never been to. I’ve only been to Toronto. We’re going to a lot of other cool cities in Canada, so that should be fun. And then, just all the cities I haven’t been to yet. That’s what I’m most excited for because so many people from certain cities have wanted me to come there, so now this tour is giving me the opportunity, which is a great feeling. They support me so much, so it’s like, going to see them to play for them, is going to be a great feeling.

JJJ: Last time we talked, you mentioned you were getting better and better at playing guitar. Will fans maybe get to see you play on stage?

RB: I don’t know. We’ll have to see. I would love and I really want to, but we’re going to have to wait and see for that.

JJJ: You also mentioned you’re not a big dancer. Do they try to get you to dance at shows?

RB: If anybody wants me to dance, I’m sorry that’s not going to happen (laughs). Nobody is making me dance or anything. Thankfully, I don’t work with people who make me do certain things like that. When it comes to the artistic side of it or the live performance, thankfully I’m not being controlled like a puppet. I’m lucky that I get to do what I want on stage, rather than being forced to do something I don’t want to do. But yeah, I’m not a dancer. I figure I would rather save people from seeing me dance just from how horrible I am (laughs). My music doesn’t really go with that either. I mean, I like watching people dance. I just can’t dance.

JJJ: Before you leave for tour, will you be done with high school for good?

RB: Yeah, I’m about to finish. Once I get off the phone with you, I’m going to start taking a couple of tests I need to take and stuff. I’m almost done and finishing up a couple things, but I should be done before I leave. It’s going to great. That feeling of not having school is going to be almost kind of weird. Twelve years of my life being in school and now it’s all ending. It’s just crazy.

RB: Yeah, he just texted me and was like, “Hey, I’m shooting a video next Friday. Do you want to be a part of it?” I was like, “For sure. Give me the details.” That was really cool. Obviously, I’ve had my own music videos, but being in someone else’s and seeing it from like a background kind of view was really cool. It also put a lot less stress on me. I got to be in the video without having to sing. It was really fun. You know how it looks like we’re having a party in a backyard, that’s how it really was – all of our friends together chillin. There happened to be some cameras around. It was so fun.